Igor Zugic (born 23 December 1981) is a Canadian

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player who holds the

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. He was the 2006 Canadian Champion and is an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

by profession. Zugic was born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

and emigrated to Canada with his family at age 12, settling in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. His first important Canadian chess results came in 1996 when he won both the Canadian Championship for Grade 9 and the Canadian Under 18 Championship. He was of National Master strength by this time, at age 15. He represented Canada at the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

s, Boys' Under 18 Group, in both 1996 and 1998.

International Master

Zugic won the Canadian Grade 12 Championship in 1999 and earned his

title in 2000, and made a Grandmaster norm at

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the same year. He studied computer engineering at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, graduating in 2004, and represented the school in the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. Zugic tied for third place in the Closed Zonal

Canadian Chess Championship This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the World Cup st ...

at Toronto 2004, with 6.5/9, behind Pascal Charbonneau and

Eric Lawson Eric Lawson (born February 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who is perhaps best known for his fight stint with now-defunct promotion Strikeforce. A professional mixed martial arts since 2004, Lawson holds a record of 9–5. Mixed ...

. Zugic won the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

International 2005, making his second Grandmaster norm. He represented Canada at the American Continental Chess Championship at

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2005.

Olympian and Canadian Champion

Zugic was first selected for the Canadian

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

team in 2000, and has made the team twice more since. Here are his results playing in this championship: * 2000:

34th Chess Olympiad The 34th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to all players. and women's tournament, took place between Oc ...

Istanbul, board 3, 5/9, +3 =4 -2; * 2004:

36th Chess Olympiad The 36th Chess Olympiad (; ), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tourna ...

Calvià, board 4, 4/10, +2 =4 -4; * 2006:

37th Chess Olympiad The 37th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed ...

Turin, board 3, 5/9, +3 =4 -2; * 2008:

38th Chess Olympiad The 38th Chess Olympiad (), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from 12 to 25 November 2008 in Dresden, Germany. There were 146 teams ...

Dresden board 3, 7/10, +5=4-1. * His combined results for Canada are: +13 =16 -9, for 55 per cent. Zugic won the Closed Zonal

at Toronto 2006 with 7/9, and represented Canada in the 2007

Chess World Cup The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. History Three different formats have been used: *In 2000 and 2002, it was a multi-stage tournament, with a group stage consisting of 24 players in fo ...

, losing his first-round match to Michael Adams by 0.5-1.5. His Canadian rating as of May 2007 was 2553, and his International FIDE rating is 2481. The site chessgames.com has 106 of his games, the site chessbase.com has 342 of his games, and the site mychess.com has 320 of his games; many of these games would be duplicated between sites.

Notable chess games

Georgi Kacheishvili vs Igor Zugic, Istanbul Olympiad 2000, King's Indian Attack (A07), 0-1
Very solid positional performance against a strong Grandmaster.
Igor Zugic vs Irina Krush, New York Smartchess.com International 2001, English Opening (A21), 1-0
Convincing win over one of the world's top women players.
Igor Zugic vs Ljubomir Ftacnik, Montreal International 2002, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D85), 1-0
It's the youngster against the veteran, and this time the young gun triumphs.
Igor Zugic vs Dmitry Tyomkin, Canadian Zonal Championship, Toronto 2004, English Opening (A15), 1-0
Theory gets left behind early as both sides play to win in this sharp encounter.
Hrvoje Stevic vs Igor Zugic, Calvia Olympiad 2004, Sicilian Defence, Alapin Variation (B22), 0-1
Another 2500+ player has to topple his King.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zugic, Igor 1981 births Living people Canadian chess players Canadian people of Serbian descent Chess International Masters Sportspeople from Sarajevo Chess players from Toronto Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Toronto alumni Canadian software engineers Chess Olympiad competitors